It is of course well known that flashlights are powered by batteries with one or more of such batteries being utilized for causing the bulb of the flashlight to be energized when the switch of the flashlight is operated. Flashlights are designed to accommodate different numbers of batteries, with compact flashlights using at least one battery and other flashlights using multiple batteries depending on their size and desired power for illumination intensity. It is also well known that these batteries are produced in different sizes among which the AA, AAA, C and D sizes are widely utilized in flashlights as these batteries have similar electrical discharge and charging capabilities. It frequently occurs that when at least one battery of a size noted above needs replacement, there is only available other sized batteries but ones that are electrically acceptable.
Flashlights which operate using differently sized batteries are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,006,969; 5,167,447; 5,357,411 and 5,954,420. In addition, it is known to use an adapter for receiving differently sized batteries as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,969,148; 3,990,919; 4,020,245; 4,057,677; and 4,767,358. The majority of these patents disclose the use of differently sized batteries stacked in end-to-end relationship so that the batteries are arranged electrically in series relationship.
It is further known to provide a flashlight which holds multiple batteries that are physically arranged in parallel (i.e. side-by-side) and electrically arranged in series so as to provide a compact and versatile design. One such flashlight is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,208 wherein a flashlight barrel is formed with equally spaced, longitudinal grooves for holding a plurality of identically sized batteries. The problem with this design is that should one battery be used up or defective, the flashlight is rendered inoperative until a replacement battery of the same size can be obtained.
Given the prior art, it is desirable to provide a relatively compact, simple flashlight for accommodating differently sized batteries in a physically parallel configuration without the need for an adapter. Such a flashlight should be operable using a single battery of the AA, AAA, C or D size as well as various combinations thereof.